French actress and activist Brigitte Bardot dies aged 91
The French screen legend appeared in 56 films before ending her career in 1973 and dedicating herself to animal rights activism.
French actress Brigitte Bardot in the film La Verita
Bardot became world famous in the fifties and sixties for her free-spirited performances in movies such as “And God Created Woman”.Image: Fotogramma/picture alliance
French movie star and animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot has died at age 91, her foundation said Sunday.
“The Brigitte Bardot Foundation announces with immense sadness the death of its founder and president, Madame Brigitte Bardot, a world-renowned actress and singer, who chose to abandon her prestigious career to dedicate her life and energy to animal welfare and her foundation,” it said in a statement sent to French news agency AFP.
The foundation’s Bruno Jacquelin told The Associated Press Bardot died at her home in southern France. He did not give a cause of death and said no immediate arrangements have been made for funeral or memorial services.
French President Emmanuel Macron praised Bardot for her excellence on and off the screen, writing on social media platform X: “Her films, her voice, her dazzling glory, her initials, her sorrows, her generous passion for animals, her face that became Marianne, Brigitte Bardot embodied a life of freedom.”
“French existence, universal brilliance,” he added. “She touched us. We mourn a legend of the century.”Celebrated sex symbol
When her career began in the 1950s, she was widely regarded as a sex symbol, thanks to her figure and libertine lifestyle.
One of her most well-known films was “And God Created Woman,” in 1956, where she starred as an 18-year-old caught up in a love triangle, which was directed by her then-husband Roger Vadim.
Vadim once promised that Bardot would become “the unattainable fantasy of all married men.”
